LONDON, Dec 9- Britain's top stock index recorded its biggest weekly rise in five months, with a late boost on Friday when Sky shares surged by more than 25 percent on a takeover approach from Twenty-First Century Fox. Sky shares recorded their biggest ever one-day percentage gain after the European pay-TV group said it had been approached by Rupert Murdoch's...

Dec 9- Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Friday that a software update for Galaxy Note 7 smartphones will be released mid-December in the United States preventing them from charging and functioning as mobile phones, rendering them useless. The smartphone maker said that more than 93 percent of all recalled Galaxy Note 7 devices had been returned as a part of...

David Damos, 35, was charged in an indictment filed in federal court in New Haven, Connecticut, with securities fraud, becoming the latest trader to face charges for cheating customers on prices of mortgage-backed securities.

Vice President Joe Biden said on Friday he doubted whether Donald Trump could undo much of the current administration's record on the environment because so many green policies have firmly taken hold. Trump, who will take over as president on Jan. 20, has said he does not believe in global warming and will name a climate change skeptic, Oklahoma Attorney General...

Vice President Joe Biden said on Friday he doubted whether Donald Trump could undo much of the current administration's record on the environment because so many green policies have firmly taken hold. Trump, who will take over as president on Jan. 20, has said he does not believe in global warming and will name a climate change skeptic, Oklahoma Attorney General...

Vice President Joe Biden said on Friday he doubted whether Donald Trump could undo much of the current administration's record on the environment because so many green policies have firmly taken hold. Trump, who will take over as president on Jan. 20, has said he does not believe in global warming and will name a climate change skeptic, Oklahoma Attorney General...

*China economy reflating as producer prices surge. LONDON, Dec 9- Copper ended the week higher on Friday after robust data from China offered more evidence the world's second biggest economy is recovering, even though moves by Chinese authorities to tame speculation made some cautious. The stronger-than-expected 3.3 percent surge in prices, along with upbeat...

Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a strong advocate of increased oil and gas development who is skeptical about climate change, to run the Department of the Interior, sources briefed on the matter told Reuters on Friday. McMorris Rodgers, the fourth most senior member of the House leadership, has been a supporter of efforts to expand the U.S. oil and gas...

WASHINGTON, Dec 9- The U.S. Agriculture Department left its domestic supply estimates for corn, soybeans and wheat unchanged on Friday, holding usage forecasts for all three commodities steady with its November outlook. On the global front, the government raised its ending stocks outlook for corn, soybeans and wheat due to increased production outlooks in...

Dec 9- Rupert Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox Inc has made a $14.1 billion bid for the remaining shares of European pay-TV group Sky Plc that the U.S. company does not already own, the British broadcaster said on Friday. By owning all of Sky, Fox, whose cable networks include Fox News and FX, the New York- based media company would have control of a distribution...

PARIS, Dec 9- Women in France who have used Bayer's contraceptive implant Essure have launched a legal complaint about side-effects similar to a challenge already underway in the United States. A Bayer spokeswoman declined to comment on litigation in France but said the company remained convinced that the implant was a good option for many women and that it...

NEW YORK, Dec 9- A former Swiss banker who was arrested last year in Germany on U.S. charges that he helped wealthy Americans evade taxes is back in Switzerland after the denial of a request to extradite him to the United States from Germany, his lawyer said on Friday. He was arrested in Germany in February 2015 at the request of the U.S. government, which sought his...

In its monthly supply and demand report, USDA said that U.S corn ending stocks for the 2016/ 17 marketing year will come in at 2.403 billion bushels, 10 million bushels below the average of estimates given in a Reuters survey of analysts. "In recent years, early-season U.S. corn export commitments have not been a robust indicator of final exports," USDA said in a...

WASHINGTON— One by one, key health care industry groups are telling the incoming Republican administration and Congress that it's not a good idea to repeal the 2010 health care law without clear plans to address the consequences. The concerns go beyond the obvious potential hardship for 20 million people covered by subsidized private insurance and expanded...

Sky said Friday that Murdoch's entertainment conglomerate 21st Century Fox has reached a preliminary deal to buy the rest of Sky for 10.75 pounds per share, the equivalent of about 11.2 billion pounds. Taking control of Sky gives 21st Century Fox, which owns cable networks Fox News, FX and the Fox broadcast channel and a major Hollywood film studio, a distributor...

Dec 9- Coca-Cola Co said on Friday that Muhtar Kent would step aside as chief executive next year and be replaced by James Quincey, a company veteran credited with several recent changes to help the company cut its dependence on sugary drinks. Quincey's ascension was widely expected since he became chief operating officer in August 2015 after jobs that...

*OPEC to meet non- OPEC countries in Vienna in Saturday. OPEC will meet non- OPEC producing countries in Vienna on Saturday, hoping non- OPEC will commit to cutting 600,000 barrels per day after its own members agreed to cut 1.2 million bpd last week. OPEC sources said nine non- OPEC countries were set to join the meeting: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Oman, Mexico, Russia, Sudan,...